Better Than Drugs
by xWhiteLynx
Summary: Kimba, 14; Huey, 13; Riley, 11. Together, this trio of soul-bound siblings must get to the bottom of the question that's driving their cul-de-sac friends crazy: Who is the one going around hurting innocent people? Join the trio in their journey to discover that, sometimes, the bond you can have for one another is better than any drug.


The nights in the cul-de-sac were always scary. Kimba could always feel it in her blood that there was always the possibility of something bad happening. What it would possibly be, she never had a clue. Huey and Riley always had the same feeling, but they never knew either. The possibilities were limitless; somebody could overdose and die in their room, or somebody would take some deadly pill or something and die from that. Worst case scenario, they heard the gunfire outside the home they lived in, and somebody would end up dead in a hit and run. Whatever the case, every night was long, tiring, and scary.  
Trying to fall asleep was never easy, either. The three kids shared one small bed, since they were living in a home with seven other people and they could only depend on the living space they could actually afford. The oldest person in the house, who was only just barely about twenty years old, made sure everybody else at least didn't have to sleep on the floor. But even then, it was never comfortable, and falling asleep was always hard. One member of the trio always felt it was their job to wake up at random times during the night and hold their hand above the others' mouths just to make sure they were still breathing. It was very cramped, and often the slightest movements woke somebody up. The stuffiness of the room didn't help either, but they never wanted to open the one window they had, in fear it would be too obvious that there were vulnerable people around.  
Whatever it was that was keeping her awake that night, Kimba just laid there on her side, watching Huey and Riley as they slept. She was the oldest out of the three of them, so she - more often than not - felt like it was her responsibility to keep an eye on them all the time and make sure they stayed okay while they slept. Riley twitched in his sleep every now and then, but he was otherwise sleeping soundly. Huey didn't even move at all, and it soon bothered Kimba so much that she reached over Riley to feel for Huey's beathing. He was breathing. Kimba sighed in relief.  
Her sigh must've flew into the wrong direction, because Riley made a face and opened his eyes tiredly immediately after she sighed. Kimba frowned; she hadn't intended on waking him up, it just happened. Riley looked at her with tired, pitiful eyes. "What's wrong?" he groaned, quietly to not wake up Huey.  
Kimba just shook her head and put a hand on his arm. "Nothing, just go back to sleep," she whispered.  
"You should be sleeping, too," Riley mumbled. He wasn't wrong, Kimba really should've been sleeping at the time. But she just shook her head and squeezed Riley's forearm gently to give him a secure feeling. It was an innocent show of love, a show of affection. Riley looked over his shoulder carefully to make sure Huey was still asleep, then he looked back at Kimba and said in a lower whisper, "I know you're scared because of those night scares you've been having."  
A lump worked it's way into Kimba's throat, and she felt as though her throat was being set on fire. She knew Riley knew about the night terrors she had been dealing with, but she didn't know he was that worried about her. Riley was never, ever the kind to show true worry for anybody, no matter what the circumstance was. If anything, she was more surprised than anything. She hadn't been having them that long, anyway, but she guessed she'd been having them long enough for the two boys to find out about them.  
Kimba sighed again. "I'll be fine, Riley. Just go back to sleep."  
Riley just looked at her, worried. He was really worried about her; she had been there for him and his blood brother for a long time, so she was like their big sister. It hurt the both of them to see her in pain. But at the same time, Riley knew that he didn't stand much of a fighting chance against Kimba. What could he do? An eleven year old against a fourteen year old wouldn't be a good picture. He decided to not force anything upon her, and he closed his eyes, falling back asleep very fast.  
Kimba looked down at the foot of the bed, completely silent. Riley was right, she needed to at least try to get some sleep. She hadn't had any easy sleep since the night terrors began - which was about a week or so ago - and it was affecting her badly. It wasn't long before she felt her eyes begin to close, and she thought that it would finally be a night where she would get some decent sleep.  
Before the trio was fully asleep, the unmistakable howl of a woman screaming pierced the air, sending a shiver down all of the kids' spines. All three of them were instantly wide awake, sitting up and looking at each other with looks that said they were already scared for their lives.  
"You guys heard that too, right?" The voice belonged to Huey. He usually never even sounded nervous, but the nervousness in his tone was as noticable as his ocean blue eyes.  
Riley and Kimba both nodded, not saying a word.  
Their curiousity got the best of them. The kids instantly scrambled out of bed and up to the single window in the room. It was very small, so the three of them had to temporarily fight for a spot to see. They remained extremely quiet, in case there was somebody out there that would see them from the window.  
How come the scream hadn't woken anybody else in the house?  
They scanned the area from top to bottom, but none of them could see anything. A shiver ran up Huey's spine as Kimba's breathing became heavy, breathing deeper than usual just to feel like she was getting enough air in her lungs to support herself. After a solid minute of scanning and finding nothing, they half-relaxed, sitting in a semi-circle on the floor.  
"What was that?" Kimba whispered.  
"How should we know?" Riley retorted, slightly louder.  
"Shh!" Huey shushed.  
As Huey and Riley snapped at each other back and forth quietly, Kimba sighed and looked at the small clock on Huey's nightstand. 3:48 am. They needed to get back to bed.  
"Boys," she whispered slightly louder, getting in the middle of their argument, "it's late, you guys need to go back to sleep." Huey and Riley looked at her like they were both scared, so she quickly added, "Nothing's is gonna happen, you two will be safe."  
Kimba hugged them both tightly, then she let them get back under the blanket and strokes their cheeks simultaneously until they were both asleep. All the while, there was only one thing she was absolutely sure of: this was definitely going to be another sleepless night for her. 


End file.
